Guilty Until Proven Innocent
by AerrowLover
Summary: A new serial killer stalks Miami. Ryan Wolfe back at the lab amid complaints. Two things which aren't connected...Are they? As more bodies are found; Feds arrive and soon Ryan finds himself in deep trouble. Is he the serial killer? Or is he being set up?


_**Author's Note: Ha-ha, I told you I would eventually get around to writing a full-length fic, didn't I? Yes…. Anyway… Welcome to a fic that actually came from a dream of mine. Don't ask why my dreams are like this… So, this is set around the end of Season Five, with Ryan still at odds with the Team. I've made it AU after Burned, okay? **_

_**It will probably seem pretty far-fetched at the start but keep with me and all will be understood. (Hopefully…)**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:Miami, its plotlines or characters. Also I do not, unfortunately, own Jonathan Togo. But I will someday. *evil smile***

**Chapter One: "A Grim Discovery"**

"_**Because I did not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me…." ~ Emily Dickinson.**_

* * *

"Jenny! Jenny! You forgot your keys, babes!" The laughing, if slightly drunk man called out to the young woman a few steps away from him, waving around a pair of keys that gently clinked together. It was almost midnight, and Jenny Rodgers was on her way home from her friend Matt's twenty-seventh birthday party. She had decided to leave early, and was nearly down the pathway when the birthday boy had called out.

"Thanks Matt. Knowing me I would have got in my car and wondered why it wouldn't start! Honestly, what am I like?" The young woman with long black hair rushed back up the gravel path to her friend, and took her keys. She smiled at Matt. Even when he was drunk he had common sense where she sadly didn't, even if stone-cold sober.

"You're beautiful and smart. That's what you're like." Matt said suddenly, grinning at her, and was seemingly leaning towards her when she laughed and gently pushed him away. She knew he liked her, he had ever since they had gone to the same Hospital for their residency as what he called it, "Doctors-in-training". She had known him since they had both been in the same classes at Med school. The problem was she only liked him as a friend; her best friend and nothing more than that. It appeared that now he was drunk he though he could tell her how he felt.

"Thanks again Matt. For the party," She nodded towards the noisy party still going on, "And for my keys." She held then up and smiled at him. "Now I really have to go. I need some sleep before that interview tomorrow. I want to do my best."

Matt smiled back at her, deciding to leave "the talk" about how he felt to another day. "You'll be fine. You know it. You'll get the job at Hope Hospital. No worries." He said, looking into her dark blue eyes with his own green ones.

"Matt, you're a star. Right, this _is_ me leaving. I mean it!" She laughed, and quickly kissed him of his cheek before making her way back down the path to her car in the driveway. She looked over her shoulder as she got in the car and waved to her friend. "G'night, Matt. Happy birthday, and don't drink anymore, okay?" She heard him laugh over her fussing, and him shouting another "Night!" back at her before she started the car and drove away.

It was only ten minutes before she arrived at her house, bought for her by her parents. Getting out of the car, she started walking up the long driveway when she suddenly heard something. It sounded like trees rustling together, and it made her stop and turn around quickly.

"Hello? Anyone there?" She called out, freezing for a minute. When no one replied and nothing else was heard, she sighed and starting walking again, albeit quicker.

"I hate walking up here at night… I am so planning for this driveway to be made shorter. Somehow." She muttered, before hearing another noise, like footsteps, only much closer this time. She stopped, and turned around and looked. She could see nothing, but it was dark. Jenny could feel her breath catch in her throat.

"Who is there? Hello?" She called out again, her voice shaky and panicked sounding. She didn't wait this time for an answer, but instead started running towards the house.

She was almost there when she dropped the keys. She cursed and bent down to pick them up, and on straightening, she saw the figure of a man in front of her. She gasped, and froze, staring into his dark eyes.

"Get away from me!" She shouted, but then the man grabbed her by the throat. She screamed, trying to kick him. The man seemed to smile, before putting a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

The next thing Jenny felt was pain in her stomach and she saw a glistening knife shining in the dark, now stained with her blood.

"Let's have some fun, darlin'…" The man whispered almost seductively to her, and Jenny knew that tonight she would die.

* * *

"Alexx, what do we have?" The red-haired Horatio Caine stood beside the black woman who was beside the victim's body. He took off his custom black sunglasses, and crouched down to the woman's level.

"One of the most brutal cases I have seen in a while, Horatio." Dr Alexx Woods sounded upset, which meant that the victim had indeed suffered. She was rather sentimental and the only person Horatio knew that would talk to the bodies of the victims in a motherly tone.

"Poor baby was stabbed repeatedly in her abdomen, look," She pointed out a long row of stab wounds. "Perfectly symmetrical to each other. This guy wanted to make her suffer. Her wrists are heavily bruised," Alexx picked up the wrists that were almost black before moving to the girl's chest. "She suffered multiple bruising and lacerations to her chest, and she has several broken ribs. What finished her off was the serious head trauma. Her poor head was actually split open, my guess is with the same thing she was stabbed with. It's almost as if the stabbings on her abdomen were done first, almost in torture fashion before the injury to her head. " She shook her head and sighed sadly. "Poor baby girl didn't stand a chance, Horatio."

Horatio nodded. "She didn't, but we do. It seems Miami has a new killer on the loose, Alexx. Thank you." Alexx smiled at him before beginning to have the body placed into the van that would transport it to the lab.

"Frank, do we know who she is?" Horatio asked the man who had just walked up. Even Frank Tripp, the Texan detective looked shaken by what he had seen.

"Poor girl, Horatio. Name's Jenny Rodgers, found her Driver's license. She was twenty-seven and had recently received her M.D. The person who found her was a boy on his newspaper rounds. He's pretty shaken up and I don't blame him. Bit of a grim discovery, if you ask me."

"What about the neighbours Frank, did they see anything?" Horatio looked at the small crowd in front of the yellow tape at the driveway.

"Now I've asked around and no one saw anything, but one of her neighbours says she was out for about four hours at a party for one of her friends and she was home for after twelve. She saw her car pull up but nothing after that. Seems whoever did this knew what he was doing." Frank said, shaking his head. "Right now we have nothing to go on. I'm going to find out more about this party, see if that will help."

"Thank you, Frank." Horatio watched as Tripp made his way back down the driveway.

Horatio Caine himself had to say he was shocked at what he had seen. Yes, he had seen violent and bloody crime scenes before but this one was the first for a while now and it only made him more resolute to catch the killer. He was broken out of his thoughts about the victim by a female voice calling to him.

"So, what've we got here Horatio?" The southern-accented voice that belonged to Calleigh Duquesne sounded almost chirpy. It may have been early in the morning but that didn't put her off. She had got the message telling her that she had a new case and had gone to the scene, and had been waiting for whoever else was meant to be there with her. Having seen Horatio, however she decided to make her way over to him and get the summary of what had happened before collecting evidence.

"Calleigh. As early as ever." Horatio smiled. "Now, we have a twenty-seven year old female, apparently slowly tortured before having her head split open. Her name was Jenny Rodgers, and she was killed just after arriving home from her friend's party," Horatio watched Calleigh shake her head, appearing disgusted before continuing, "Alexx has taken the body back to the lab, so now the scene is yours."

Calleigh was shocked at how violent the crime had been but didn't show it, and instead nodded at Horatio. "Guess I'll just go and get stuck in then. See you later, Horatio."

Horatio smiled, before walking back down the driveway, and was almost sent flying by a young man. He looked at who it was before smiling slightly.

"Mr Wolfe. Glad to see you turn up."

"Oh, sorry H. Didn't, uh, see you there. Bit of a hurry, you know? Traffic was terrible…" Ryan started, pull a hand through his dark brown and now ruffled hair before stopping. "Sorry. Rambling again…Aren't I?"

"Just slightly, Mr Wolfe. I understand that this is your first case since you have returned, correct?" Seeing Ryan nod, he continued, "So you will want to make sure that everything is done by the book. No mistakes, nothing. This is your chance to prove that bringing you back was the right choice, Mr Wolfe, so I would take it with both hands. Understood?"

Horatio watched the young man. Ever since the tape Yelina had shown him that had Ryan handing money he owed to a man they had arrested, everything had gone down-hill for Ryan since then, with him being fired and then after having a stint on TV as their "expert", and had been allowed to come back to the lab but only after reviewing every case he had ever worked on, including all his time at Patrol. Now he was reinstated, back working on a new case. Horatio could only hope that Ryan wouldn't do anything stupid that would then be his last chance over and done with.

"I know, H. I won't do something as stupid as I did back then again, with the money and gambling…." He broke off for a second, and Horatio knew that the twenty eight year old in front of him was genuinely upset over his actions, " I mean that. I just want to work and help solve cases, that's all." He looked at Horatio with his brown eyes, and in that instant made him think that he looked like a lost puppy. Horatio smiled to himself, and nodded at Ryan.

"Good to hear it Mr Wolfe. Now, I think Calleigh is waiting for you. She doesn't know that you are back working, so you're being there could come as a surprise."

Ryan sighed. He knew he was going to have to get used to all the people he worked with giving him looks and probably secreting thinking that he was an addictive gambler, always desperate for money and that he shouldn't have been reinstated. The sooner then the better, and he knew Calleigh wouldn't be openly hostile to him. She was always polite, so it won't be too bad working with her, but when he went back to the lab…

I'll think about that when the time comes, he thought to himself before looking at Horatio, who had just put his black sunglasses back on.

"Okay, H. See you later then." Horatio smiled and nodded, watching as Ryan walked off, on up the driveway to find Calleigh. He hoped that back at the lab he wouldn't receive too hostile a reception.

"Calleigh will look out for him, I know she will. And of course he has Alexx to mother him. He'll be fine." Horatio muttered quietly to himself, before walking to his car.

* * *

"Hey, Calleigh. Sorry I'm late; the traffic was terrible, but I got here as soon as I could and then had to talk to H and -"

Calleigh turned around suddenly from where she had been talking photos at the sound of the voice behind her. Ryan? Was it him? He must have been reinstated. She was secretly glad he had been, know that she knew. He made working in the lab fun, surprisingly. He was the youngest there, and tended to be making jokes and laughing most of the time. When he had first arrived and worked on her dad's case, he had made a joke about the alligator at the site.

"_You could have been gator bait!" She had said to him, turning around to where he was leaning down on the table with his head on his arms._

"_Well, let's not forget that I did sacrifice my lunch." He had said solemnly and in all seriousness, before looking at her with the cutest grin she had ever seen. They had both laughed before the computer found the results they had needed, and there and then Calleigh discovered the newbie; the rookie, was actually alright. _

However, Eric had not thought that same and had been terrible. Ryan lost became more serious and quiet around him; and proved he could have a real temper and easily hold his own in an argument but eventually the two had worked out their differences and become friends. But after being thought of as the mole in the lab, the one who had stolen money by the Feds and then the latest incident with gambling, Ryan had lost the boyish charm and need for laughter. She hoped that someday he would become himself again and not that solemn and quiet person had been, almost timid.

"Ryan? You're back then?" She said, cutting through him talking. He stopped and looked at her, as if judging whether she was going to get mad for him being late, be coolly polite or simply say what she had to and ignore him.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I'm backing working cases. This is my first, since…. Well, you know. So yeah, I'm back." He said, smiling slightly. He looked so awkward standing there that it reminded her of his first few days as being a CSI and working with them at the lab that she softened and realised that he just wanted to forget about what had happened. She smiled at him and walked over and quickly gave him a hug. He looked shocked, before smiling back at her.

"Nice to see you back, Ryan. And nice to see that smile back too." Calleigh said laughing slightly.

"Well, it's nice to be back and I think my smile would agree." Ryan said joining in with the laughter. And if his smile wasn't like the cute grin she remembered, Calleigh didn't mind, as she knew that someday she would see it again.

"So…What do we have?" Ryan put his case down on the ground, opened it and got a pair of latex gloves out. Calleigh shook her head; if only he had gotten in sooner then she wouldn't have to repeat everything.

"We have a twenty-seven year old female, name Jenny Rodgers. She was killed outside her front door after coming home from a party. It seems the killer was waiting for her to come home. I found a shoe print near the trees over there by the entrance of the driveway. And no, it's not a stiletto." She said, causing Ryan to grin.

"I was never going to say anything!" He protested. "I was merely waiting for you to finish. I was sure you were going to say that it was a guy's shoe. I am offended you would think that about me." He said, grinning again. He had been wrong to feel so nervous about seeing Calleigh again; she was making him feel like it was old times right now. Maybe later she would talk to him, but for now he could relax somewhat and enjoy working and not being cooped up in some room with a guy from Internal Affairs looking over his shoulder.

Calleigh shook her head. One of the cases they had worked on together during his first year had a stiletto shoe print at the crime scene. Calleigh had believed it to be relevant to the case, until it turned out to be just a random shoe print. Ryan had found that hilarious, and since then whenever they found a shoe print the had always asked her if it was a stiletto or not.

"Anyway…" She said, causing Ryan to chuckle again and resume his looking around the pathway, "I found the print and I've taken a copy of it. So far I've found no prints around the door or glass, nothing around the garage. Plenty of blood as you can see though, but it's just all from the victim."

"So the killer knew what to do; didn't touch anything to leave behind no prints. Seems either to be a pro, or overly cautious." Ryan said, before catching sight of something near the pools of blood. He moved towards it.

"Hey Calleigh, check this out."

"What've you got, Ryan?" Calleigh left her search of the grass and walked over to Ryan.

"Seems like a piece of paper or something. It's got writing on it… Wait a sec…" Ryan carefully removed the small stones that had been placed around the paper and held it up to the sunlight.

"The killer left this behind. Look, there were stones set around it to hold it down!" Ryan said, before reading what was written.

"Ryan, what does it say?" Calleigh said quickly on seeing the look on Ryan's face.

He took a breath before reading it out loud:

_Now I've started, I won't stop._

_Just try and catch me - this will be fun._

There was a small silence.

"Lovely." Ryan said suddenly, before carefully placing the paper into an evidence bag and sealing it. "This person is mad. Does he actually have plans to kill more people, do you think? Judging by the note…"

Calleigh nodded. "Seems we could be dealing with a wannabe serial killer. Let's hope we can get whoever this is before his plans are carried out, yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's hope." Ryan said, before putting the bag inside his case. For some reason, those two lines left him with a sense of dread.

* * *

"Jenny was….Just great. I mean, my best friend, she was smart, funny….God, I can't believe it. I can't believe she's actually dead. Jenny…." The man broke down in tears, something he had been doing for the past five minutes. Ever since the police had shown up at his door, Matt had been upset. Really upset. Hearing that jenny was dead…He had never told her how he had felt and now he would never be able to.

"Mr Sanderson -" Horatio started to say, but the young man cut him off.

"Matt. Everyone calls me Matt."

"That's okay. Matt, I want you to know something, okay? We will do all we can do to find out who did this to Jenny. I promise you that, okay?" Horatio said in his calm voice, the one he reserved for dealing with victims or their distraught family and close friends. He had arrived at that man's house after finding out from Frank that it was a Matthew Sanderson that had had the party Jenny Rodgers had attended before she had been murdered. The young man had been devastated, that was clear enough, and Horatio know that it wasn't guilt, but genuine grief.

"Matt, I need to know about this party you had here last night, if that's alright." He asked the crying Matt, who nodded and quickly wiped away the fast-falling tears. Horatio sighed to himself. It was this part of the job he never liked, and never would. Telling someone that their family or close friends were dead…

"It was my birthday party. I was twenty-seven yesterday, and I threw a party to celebrate. For the past couple of years I've been working lots, studying, you know? I haven't had time for a party, but Jenny and I, we got our and I decided I should have a birthday party for once, before we get jobs and maybe not get to see each other as often." Matt said, looking at Horatio.

"I see. How many people were at this party? Were they all friends of yours?"

Matt nodded quickly. "Yeah. My friends and they all knew Jenny. We all got on well together. Most of them are from med school."

"Do you have a list of the people who attended?" Horatio asked, hoping that the boy would say that he had.

He was lucky.

"Yeah, actually. My mom always nags me to be organised, right, so this time I wrote out a list of everyone who I invited. All made it there last night. Do you want it?" Matt asked, Getting up and walking over to the closest table were he picked up several sheets of paper.

"That would be very helpful, Matt. Very helpful indeed."

Matt handed over to Horatio the paper, and then went to sit back down again.

"I hope it helps lieutenant."

Horatio nodded. "It will. Matt, how long did this party go on for? When did it start?"

"Um… It started at around eight, and it was to go 'til late, you know?" Matt smiled slightly, before looking upset again. "I planned for it to last 'til morning, but Jenny didn't stay that long. She left before twelve."

"So she left early. Why?"

"She had an interview with the director at Hope Hospital in the morning, and she wanted to go and get some sleep so she could do her best." Matt said, looking on the verge of tears again. "She really wanted the job there, and you know what…She would have made such a great doctor there."

"Matt, do you know of anybody who could have done this? Did Jenny ever mention to you anybody she had a run-in with; anyone who would have been jealous of her or wanted revenge?" Horatio asked.

Matt thought for a minute before shaking his head. "No. Sure, people were jealous of her, but only a few and they would never do anything like this. She was just great, you know? Really smart, but would help anyone out. Really kind…Nobody could hate her!" He said, now crying again.

Horatio nodded again, before reaching into his pocket and taking out a card.

"I know Matt. I know. Now this," He then said, holding out the white card which Matt took, "Is my number. I want you to call if you need anything, okay? Just hang in there partner. Hang in there."

* * *

"So, Horatio called."

"Oh, what did he find out?" Ryan asked, looking up at Calleigh. They had just arrived at the lift, after walking to through the building and were about to go into the it. Ryan had been dreading this the whole way back from the victim's house, but he decided he would simply walk in and go with Calleigh to look over the evidence. Yes, he would follow her around like a stray dog. He had laughed quietly to himself about that, before Calleigh had walked over to him carrying her case and her phone and now here they were, about to go in.

"He said this party was actually a birthday party for the victim's best friend. He's really upset, so Horatio says this Matthew Sanderson has no connection to the murder. The neighbour was right too - she was there for around four hours before leaving."

"Did this guy have any idea as to who would have done this? Did the girl have any enemies or people out to get her?"

Calleigh shook her head. "No. She seems to have been one of those people who everyone likes. You know, kind and funny, always willing to lend a hand. Her best friend couldn't think of anyone who would have done this."

Ryan sighed. "So we have no leads. Since we have no prints, no murder weapon, it looks like we're at a dead end and we haven't really started yet. Great."

Calleigh smiled. "It's not all bad. We do have a shoe print, and that letter. We could always check out the people from the party and make them do a handwriting comparison test. Besides, we could get lucky and find a fingerprint of that letter and check it out."

"Always the optimist, aren't you Calleigh." Ryan said with a laugh that was cut short whenever they stepped out of the lift and entered the floor. Calleigh looked over at Ryan and smiled at him. She knew why he was worried and patted his shoulder.

"It's gonna be fine, don't worry." She muttered to him before getting out first and walking to a room. Ryan followed her and ignore the several looks thrown in his direction.

"Look who's back."

"I can't believe it; I thought he was gone for good?"

"I know. Me too. Apparently not. Seems Horatio pulled strings to get him back."

"As always."

"I know..."

So the whispers went on and Ryan ignored them, walking down the main corridor to get to the room Calleigh had just entered.

"Great. Just great." He sighed, walking. If everything had seemed bad a minute ago, it had got a lot worse now.

* * *

_**So, what do you all think? I hope it doesn't seem too strange but I needed to explain the basics, so to speak. Hence why it was so long. *laughs* So, drop me a line, a.k.a a review and let me know what you think so far.**_

_**Next chapter to be posted shortly, promise!**_

_**Toodles, Leah xo**_


End file.
